{"id":192085,"date":"2017-04-24T08:57:58","date_gmt":"2017-04-24T12:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=192085"},"modified":"2019-07-18T22:41:39","modified_gmt":"2019-07-19T02:41:39","slug":"sir-orville-passes-on-ggyas-chairman-baton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2017\/04\/sir-orville-passes-on-ggyas-chairman-baton","title":{"rendered":"Sir Orville Passes On GGYA\u2019s Chairman Baton"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

Award \u2018stayed in the black\u2019 and increased diversity in 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

Tributes were paid to former Governor General Sir Orville Turnquest at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Governor General\u2019s Youth Award as he steps down as the organization\u2019s chairman of the Board of Trustees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am honoured to follow Sir Orville as he did great things while on the board,\u201d said incoming chairman, John Bethell Jr., in his first public address to the youth self-development program over the weekend.<\/p>\n

Following the sudden death of Robert Nihon in 2007, Sir Orville stepped in for what was supposed to be a short stint, while a suitable candidate could be identified. The temporary post lasted a decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cSir Orville Turnquest has become synonymous with GGYA. He has been with us for many, many years. I call him the father of the GGYA,\u201d said Jack Thompson, chairman of GGYA\u2019s management council. \u201cThere comes a time when you have to pass the baton on. We are indebted to him for the years, for his guidance, his leadership and his vision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ironically, it was during Sir Orville\u2019s time serving as Governor General in 1987, that the organization changed its name from the Duke of Edinburgh\u2019s Award to its present moniker. Thus, as the one who approved the change, Sir Orville was the Award\u2019s first national patron.<\/p>\n

During his term as chairman, GGYA grew to become one of the largest and most vibrant organizations in the Americas Region. According to stats released in October 2016, by the Americas Awards, The Bahamas is second in the region in number of participants. Canada is first.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis program was designed to promote in young people a spirit of self-worth, of enterprise and of commitment to the betterment of our community,\u201d said Sir Orville in his final, written AGM address as chairman.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is therefore heartening to see young people who are susceptible to failing \u2013 instead, excelling and choosing positive and productive paths.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sir Orville noted that the organization\u2019s 30th \u00a0anniversary poses a fitting time \u201cto focus and remind ourselves of the key role\u201d GGYA has played in the lives of youths across the nation.<\/p>\n

It was a \u201cprivilege and honor\u201d to serve as the patron and chairman of an organization \u201cunmatched among youth groups worldwide,\u201d he wrote in his welcoming remarks in the Saturday, April 8, AGM booklet.<\/p>\n

Sir Orville said he tendered his resignation \u201cknowing that the program continues to excel, and that it is in excellent hands for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Incoming chairman, Mr Bethell espoused two main goals. He is principally concerned with growing the organization which had 1,937 participants and disbursed 553 Awards in 2016. A second focus is to raise the funds necessary to sustain growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will do my very best along with my fellow trustees to continue to grow the GGYA and make it one of the best organizations in our country,\u201d said Mr Bethell.<\/p>\n

The Award is comprised of three levels (Bronze, Silver and Gold) each progressively more challenging in time and demands.<\/p>\n

It is comprised of four sections: service, skills, physical recreation and adventurous journey (hiking component). At the Gold level, a residential (community service) project is required to be executed while camping away from home.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nSuccess & challenges<\/strong>
\nThe annual general meeting affords the organization an opportunity to review its successes and challenges of the preceding year, while developing strategies and methods to further strengthen the Award during the current year and beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this tight austere time when many have seen great cutbacks, the work of this organization has continued to move on,\u201d said Everette Mackey, treasurer of GGYA\u2019s management council. \u201cAll of our goals and targets may not have been met due to various challenges but we continue to press on. We stayed in the black last year and that was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

He hopes this year is even better as the Award pursues grants to assist in its further expansion into the northern Bahamas.<\/p>\n

In 2016, the program was also successful in increasing diversity. An all-inclusive organization, GGYA welcomes disadvantaged youths, those from ethnic minority backgrounds and individuals with a physical or learning disability.<\/p>\n

Last year the programme saw a 55 percent increase in young people from immigrant communities with that segment accounting for a total of 198 active participants. Meantime, 16 participants identified themselves as disabled, an increase of 19 percent.<\/p>\n

Aided by 143 Award leaders and 29 volunteers, 55 units were up and running in 2016. Outside of New Providence, the islands that continued to offer the Award programme were Grand Bahama, Exuma, Abaco, Eleuthera, Inagua, Andros, Bimini and the Berry Islands.<\/p>\n

Last year, inroads were made to help reintroduce the Award on Cat Island, Long Island, San Salvador and Moore\u2019s Island.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Vital training<\/strong>
\nCritical to the Award success is training and developing its leaders and volunteers. \u201cTraining enables volunteers to effectively deliver and support the Award, thus facilitating the participation of more young people,\u201d according to national executive director Denise Mortimer.<\/p>\n

GGYA volunteers are encouraged to take advantage of the Duke of Edinburgh\u2019s International Award Learning Framework. Nearly 100 persons utilized the online learning hub last year.<\/p>\n

Face-to-face training exercises, such as\u00a0 the one which followed the AGM meeting on Saturday, April 8, enhance the digital learning experience.<\/p>\n

Nearly 30 volunteers from Grand Bahama, Inagua, Eleuthera, Exuma, Andros and Abaco participated in the American Heart Association Life Savers Course with CPR training and an Adventurous Journey Course which rain April 7-8, at the Ministry of Youth, Sports & Culture Conference Room.<\/p>\n

Tosheena Robinson-Blair
\nPrecision Media<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Captions:<\/em><\/p>\n

GGYA volunteers from across The Bahamas, pictured here, participated in the American Heart Association Life Savers Course with CPR training over the weekend.<\/em><\/p>\n

Critical to the Award success is training and developing its leaders and volunteers. Pictured here are participants in the adventurous journey course held over the weekend. <\/em><\/p>\n

GGYA’s executive leadership team, Gold Award Holders and volunteers from Grand Bahama, Inagua, Eleuthera, Exuma, Andros and Abaco were in attendance at the organization’s AGM on Saturday, April 8<\/em><\/p>\n

The Governor General’s Youth Award paid tribute to its outgoing chairman, former Governor General Sir Orville Turnquest at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held Saturday, April 8, at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture’s Conference Room. From left to right Rosamund Roberts, secretary to the board;\u00a0Susan Black, member of the Board of Trustee; William Birchall, member of the Board of Trustee and new chairman,\u00a0John Bethell Jr.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tributes were paid to former Governor General Sir Orville Turnquest at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Governor General\u2019s Youth Award as he steps down as the organization\u2019s chairman of the Board of Trustees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":192086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-192085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}